Broadcom abandons its pursuit of Qualcomm

Broadcom has formally abandoned its attempt to acquire rival chip maker Qualcomm after US President Donald Trump blocked the deal citing national security risks.

“Although we are disappointed with this outcome, Broadcom will comply,” the company said in a statement, bringing an official end to a months-long battle to land the technology industry’s biggest ever deal.

The retreat ends CEO Hock Tan’s most ambitious move yet in his efforts to build a chip empire, after leading Broadcom through a string of deals that have reshaped the US$400bn semiconductor industry in the last several years.

The company launched its unsolicited bid in November and was quickly and repeatedly rebuffed by Qualcomm’s management and board. Singapore-based Broadcom had been gathering support from investors to overturn its target’s resistance to a deal.

An investigation of the deal by the committee on foreign investment in the US, which reviews purchases of American businesses by foreign investors, confirmed national security threats related to the acquisition by Broadcom, the treasury department said in a second letter to both companies made public on 12 March. Later that day, Trump took the committee’s recommendation and banned the deal.

Broadcom has also withdrawn its slate of independent director nominees to Qualcomm’s board, it said in the statement. — Reported by Marthe Fourcade, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP